eCite Digital Repository
Experimental evolution meets marine phytoplankton
Citation
Reusch, TBH and Boyd, PW, Experimental evolution meets marine phytoplankton, Evolution, 67, (7) pp. 1849-1859. ISSN 0014-3820 (2013) [Refereed Article]
Copyright Statement
Copyright 2013 The Author(s)
Abstract
Our perspective highlights potentially important links between disparate fields—biological oceanography, climate change
research, and experimental evolutionary biology. We focus on one important functional group—photoautotrophic microbes
(phytoplankton), which are responsible for ∼50% of global primary productivity. Global climate change currently results in
the simultaneous change of several conditions such as warming, acidification, and nutrient supply. It thus has the potential to
dramatically change phytoplankton physiology, community composition, and may result in adaptive evolution. Although their
large population sizes, standing genetic variation, and rapid turnover time should promote swift evolutionary change, oceanographers
have focussed on describing patterns of present day physiological differentiation rather than measure potential adaptation
in evolution experiments, the only direct way to address whether and at which rate phytoplankton species will adapt to environmental
change. Important open questions are (1) is adaptation limited by existing genetic variation or fundamental constraints?
(2) Will complex ecological settings such as gradual versus abrupt environmental change influence adaptation processes? (3) How
will increasing environmental variability affect the evolution of phenotypic plasticity patterns? Because marine phytoplankton
species display rapid acclimation capacity (phenotypic buffering), a systematic study of reaction norms renders them particularly
interesting to the evolutionary biology research community.
Item Details
Item Type: | Refereed Article |
---|---|
Keywords: | adaptation, global change, phenotypic plasticity, selection—experimental |
Research Division: | Biological Sciences |
Research Group: | Ecology |
Research Field: | Marine and estuarine ecology (incl. marine ichthyology) |
Objective Division: | Environmental Policy, Climate Change and Natural Hazards |
Objective Group: | Adaptation to climate change |
Objective Field: | Climate change adaptation measures (excl. ecosystem) |
UTAS Author: | Boyd, PW (Professor Philip Boyd) |
ID Code: | 95522 |
Year Published: | 2013 |
Web of Science® Times Cited: | 73 |
Deposited By: | IMAS Research and Education Centre |
Deposited On: | 2014-10-03 |
Last Modified: | 2018-02-05 |
Downloads: | 0 |
Repository Staff Only: item control page